It was an exciting opening weekend of the World Cup with plenty of big performances from the underdogs, and as ever social media was abuzz, so we’ve trawled through Twitter to bring you the best World Cup tweets of the week.
The highlight of the round was the gargantuan clash between Portugal and Spain which finished in a 3-3 draw. All great games need great players to step up to the plate and Cristiano Ronaldo did just that with a sensational hat-trick including a third from a free-kick in the 89th minute, which was one of those moments when he insists that the world stops what it is doing to watch.
Here are the highlights courtesy of BBC
#PORESP was absolutely unbelievable! 😍
#WorldCup #bbcworldcup pic.twitter.com/ALW30zBPsY
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 16, 2018
That free kick again from another angle:
https://twitter.com/Uchekush_/status/1007716975152451585
The following day the main headline was ‘Argentina rue Lionel Messi penalty miss as Iceland hold out for dramatic draw’. The draw was no less than Iceland, who are the smallest nation ever to play in a World Cup finals, deserved.
If Messi was the villian, Hannes Thór Halldórsson was the hero.
Unforgettable 🇮🇸#WorldCup18 #fyririsland pic.twitter.com/4jtXiVur5q
— Hannes Halldórsson (@hanneshalldors) June 17, 2018
PENALTY MISSED! Messi steps up and looks to curl the penalty into the corner but Hannes springs to his right and makes a cracking save pic.twitter.com/gdbCMZ1G7E
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 16, 2018
The Icelandic goalkeeper is also a film director, and directed this fantastic commercial for Coca Cola that will air in Iceland during the World Cup:
#ISL film director Hannes Thór Halldórsson, who directed this #WorldCup commercial for Coca-Cola, saved #Messi's penalty in Iceland's first World Cup match against #ARG. pic.twitter.com/FrzoixEofM
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) June 16, 2018
Alfred Finnbogason made history for Iceland scoring his country’s first goal at a World Cup:
Moment of the Day 👀
When @A_Finnbogason drew #ISL level against #ARG on their #WorldCup debut ️⚽️
🎥 Highlights 👉 https://t.co/LOdKDXkdnV
📺 TV listings 👉 https://t.co/xliHcye6wm pic.twitter.com/gZYLeARIQX— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 16, 2018
For a nation with a population of only 330,000 they have huge support out in Russia:
Probably all Iceland is now in Zaryadie. #teamiceland #isl #worldcup pic.twitter.com/K0j7CMtEmt
— Anna (@iamanch) June 16, 2018
The next day two of the favorites, Brazil and Germany, started their World Cup campaigns.
Despite this early contender for goal of the tournament from Philippe Coutinho, Switzerland held out to neutralise Brazilian firepower and earn share of points
GOAL! What a strike from Coutinho as his shot flies past Sommer to give Brazil the lead! pic.twitter.com/6aQONVsnG8
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 17, 2018
Brazil only managed a draw but defending champions Germany were stunned by Mexico. Hirving Lozano’s first-half goal was the difference between the two sides in an enthralling encounter in Moscow.
Moment of the Day 👀
When @HirvingLozano70 scored against the reigning #WorldCup champions to give #MEX a dream start to Russia 2018 ️⚽️
🎥 Highlights 👉 https://t.co/LOdKDX2Cwn
📺 TV listings 👉 https://t.co/xliHcxWvEO pic.twitter.com/oYMWN6uuCM— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 17, 2018
The celebrations in Mexico apparently registered on the Richter scale:
#Mexico fans are believed to have caused a minor earthquake as they celebrated their team's shock win over Germany at the #WorldCup. Read the story here: https://t.co/WRs1ftqiRV pic.twitter.com/1cBsyGsjDE
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) June 18, 2018
In England‘s opening game of the tournament Harry Kane came to the rescue with an injury time winner, his second of the match, to beat Tunisia.
Moment of the Day 👀
When @England’s Harry Kane netted an injury-time winner on his #WorldCup debut 💪🎥 Highlights 👉 https://t.co/LOdKDX2Cwn
👀 TV listings 👉 https://t.co/xliHcxWvEO pic.twitter.com/wafiZ8XmEz— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 18, 2018
One young fan couldn’t control his excitement as the winner went in:
WINDJAJSJKWJSJQJSJJFJWJWJJWJWJDJJWJWKWKWKFKWKKWKDK#threelions #worldcup #england #englandfc #engtun #tuneng pic.twitter.com/ad8HLiErAG
— Theo (@Thogden) June 18, 2018
After the match Harry Kane took to Twitter to voice his joy in scoring a brace on this World Cup debut.
What a feeling to score a winner for @England at the @FIFAWorldCup. Loved it! No less than we deserved. 🦁🦁🦁 #ThreeLions #ENG #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/Pq93wOKHAd
— Harry Kane (@HKane) June 18, 2018
In the final match of the round Senegal beat Poland 2-1. But it was their fans who were stealing the headlines:
Think Senegal are going to add something special to this #WorldCup
This is their second fan group – equally fantastic! pic.twitter.com/exyttuDxnq
— Piers Edwards (@piers_e) June 19, 2018
These Senegal fans are making enough noise for the whole stadium! Absolute legends! 🥁🎺#POL #SEN #POLSEN pic.twitter.com/Q8ZaOGn3Ss
— COPA90 (@Copa90) June 19, 2018
At the final whistle they paused their celebrations to clean their section of the stadium
This is my favorite thing today – Senegal fans stayed to clean their section after celebrating their #WorldCup win against Poland pic.twitter.com/GSZSpmcH0h
— Brody Logan (@BrodyLogan) June 20, 2018
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